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Wednesday, March 2, 2016

My
father, J.C. “Bill” Lawhon, was a firefighter at Station 4 and responded
to the Winecoff. I’m traveling to Atlanta with my husband for a
business meeting and his firm has booked him at the Ellis Hotel (formerly the Winecoff). I read your
book a few years back and appreciate
your attention to detail and historical information. My father was best
friends with Rick Roberts and in fact my parents, Bill and Pat,
introduced Rick to his second wife, Daphne. The often socialized
together.

After the fire my
father struggled to come to terms with what he witnessed. He once told
me he was left standing once the fire cooled and thus was among those
sent in to recover bodies. This haunted him. He left the Department
about a year or so later
and went into a business his brothers had started, Refrigerated
Transport. But, he was plagued with alcoholism which set in a few years
later. His time in the Army in New Guinea where he saw too much death
was coupled with the Winecoff memories and this made
for a hard life for him.

At times he would mention a particular scene
that haunted him. This was his phrase “that poor child had her head
stuck in the toilet trying to get air and was there just charred”.
Please understand this phrase was often uttered when
he was in a drunken state but I heard it often as a child and knew he’d
seen things that affected him greatly. He was a strong, tall man and
once told me that had he been smaller and less strong he’d have
succumbed to fatigue and dehydration the night of the
fire and would not have been able to do body recovery. He seemed to
regret being tall, strong and broad shouldered.

Now, here is my
question. I know there is a plaque at the Ellis because I took a trip
and asked to see it a few years ago. But, are there any other notable
areas of the hotel I might show my husband? Any other artifacts
anywhere?

Thank you so much for keeping this story alive and relevant.

Peggy

Dear Peggy,

Thank you for writing to me. The plaque is now on the South side of the hotel.

The
2007 renovation was very thorough. So, the interior is all modernized,
although the hallway configurations remain largely the same. The
exterior remains
mostly the same as it was when the hotel was first opened in 1913.

Thank you for
sharing your story with me today, Peggy. May your father's soul rest in
peace. As a hero's soul should.